Reader poll

Should KU be forced to play Wichita State?

Topeka  This week, the state of Kansas has three college men’s basketball teams ranked in the Top 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

But one of those teams, Wichita State University, doesn’t play the other two, Kansas University and Kansas State University.

That would change under legislation introduced Tuesday by state Sen. Michael O’Donnell, R-Wichita.

Starting in the 2014-15 academic year, KU and K-State would each have to schedule a nonconference game with Wichita State.

“These are absolutely going to be sellout games,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said the matchups would be a hit with basketball fans and promote the state. He said the games would also decrease travel time for the teams.

Similar legislation has been filed before and clanked off the rim.

But O’Donnell noted he has a powerful teammate running the floor. Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican, is from Wichita.

O’Donnell originally proposed making state funding to KU contingent on playing Wichita State.

But he removed that provision before officially introducing the measure, saying he didn’t want his proposal to be confrontational.

He said that the measure was not a top priority of his but that he wanted legislators to at least discuss the idea. Other states have passed similar bills to create in-state rivalries.

KU and Wichita State have not played since 1993 when KU defeated the Shockers, 103-54.

Tim Caboni, KU’s vice chancellor for public affairs, said he appreciated O’Donnell’s “excitement and support of Jayhawk basketball, and his enthusiasm expressed through this bill.” But, he added, “It would be our great preference that Coach (Bill) Self along with the staff in Kansas Athletics craft the annual basketball schedule for KU.”

In a recent interview with ESPN, Self was asked why KU won’t play Wichita State.

Here was his answer: “Kansas hasn’t played Wichita State for years, way before I was the coach at Kansas. … Iowa plays Northern Iowa because the state Legislature says you have to. If someone were to come and say something that it’s law, then we would have to. But you schedule to benefit your own school, not to benefit others. You have to benefit your own school. I want to play games that benefit us, and, from a financial standpoint, it’s hard to play games away from Allen Fieldhouse since that’s our main source of budget every year.”

O’Donnell said that under his proposal, he would let the schools figure out where to play the games.

No wonder why we have financial issues in this State and the country. We pay our elected officials a nice salary to make our lives easier and basketball is all they can think about, waste their time, my time, your time, my money, your money. I just had to get that off my chest. I love college sports, but come on?????
These yo-yo's need to be removed ASAP!!!

I agree with removing the yo-yos, but I am not sure about the "nice salary". From what I understood, legislators don't get very much, but I am not sure about that. Anyone know what these yo-yo legislators are paid to come up with dumb ideas like this?

Pepe--I don't have actual salary numbers at my fingertips, but legislative salaries and benefits are decent. Besides a salary, they get paid for expenses and are eligible for the state retirement plan and they can also use camapign funds to reimburse themselves for related legislative expenses.

And they are going to get done in 80 days ????? That is what the leader said. So far they have not gotten ANY of the main neccessary items done, which is just like all the other years they have had to go into extra session (can you say extra $$$?).

ESU & Washburn played exhibition/pre-season games against KU this year so if anything that's all that WSU should receive for a match-up with KU. And did you see the score the last time the two teams met? I don't think that would make for a very exciting basketball game.......especially for the WSU fans!

Earth to sychycophant: Could you list how many times the Missouri Valley only got one team into the tournament? They only get the automatic bid and no matter how quatlified the second place team might be or how much better they might be, they don't get invited. You see , that word invited plays a bigger part than actually how deserving they are to get in. VCU beat WSU by one point on a bad call at the buzzer and that same team handled KU in the final four. In their only appearance against KU in the Ncaa, Wichita State won the game. Bradley, Northern Iowa, and Bucknell also sent KU home from the tourney. You are mistaken if you don't think WSU is a quality program. Just think how much harder it is for them to be a quality program than for KU. That speaks a lot for quality.

First I don't think with the other problems this sate has it should even be talked about.But if this is your argument how many time has Fort Scott and Pittsburg State made the NCAA .Yes I know they can't but why play some Kansas schools and not others is all I'm saying

Years ago ksu and wsu did a back to back sunflower classic where they played each other on their home court. Ku put wsu on probation with a whisper campaign of fabricated improprieties years ago when they were good enough to compete with KU. (IE, the battle of New Orleans when wsu sent ku packing home from the Ncaa tourney). Now days, KU will play emporia and washburn as a token to their financial coffers. KU doesn't want to contribute a nickle to WSU since they could be considered in competition for recruits. On a given night WSU could beat KU but not on 10 given nights. It would be very lopsided series.

I think our legislature should devote full time to this bill until it is passed. Then they would be distracted from the medieval legislation they currently are ramming down our throats.

Are you kidding? Is there nothing better to do Mr. O'Donnell? While I personally wish both KU and KSU would schedule with WSU at least every other year I don't think we need some politician interfering and worse mandating they play. Mr. O'Donnell should have gone into coaching or athletics administration if he wanted to get involved in these types of decisions. Utterly silly.

O'Donnel should write a law that Bruce Springsteen has to play a concert at Sandstone Amphitheater every year. That would be awesome because I've never seen Springsteen live. And it would bring in more money to the state coffers than another bball game. This legislating thing is fun!!!

Don't force KU and KSU to play a regular scheduled game with Wichita, maybe should/could play an exibition every few years. Years ago Wichita State decided to go small-time when it dropped it's football program; this is especiallt evident when the other 3 smaller State schools, Emporia, Hays and Pittsburgh all have successful football programs. This does not even include many private 4-year schools in Kansas that play football including Washburn, Ottawa, Baker, Benedictine, not to mention the many JUCO's. How this all relates to requiring the WSU/KU/KSU basketball match-up can be debated. but it seems to me that Wichita State is the one "in need". Yes, I know about the unfortunate WSU football airplane crash in the late 1960's.

1) Every game at the Phog is a sellout. We don't need Wichita State to sell tickets.

2) Since the renovation and renaming of the Shocker area from Leavit to Charles Koch arena in 2003, the Shockers have yet to have a sellout crowd for one of their home basketball games. In fact, in 2006, the year of Wichita State's first Sweet 16 appearance since 1981, they were barely able to half fill their arena for a big game against their conference rival, Missouri State. And BTW, the attendance for that game--slightly more than 5,000, ranks as the fourth biggest crowd in the history of Koch Arena.

A sellout, even with the Jayhawks visiting, is hardly guaranteed, unless, of course, many KU faithful make the trip to Wichita.

I understand O'Donnell's desire to upgrade his hometown's basketball program. But before he puts a gun to KU's head, he should find a more civil method of improving Shocker basketball instead of attempting to issue legislative pronouncements.

Whoops. My bad. I googled "Charles Koch Arena" and found an official Wichita State web site with an article on the area which included attendance records. Apparently, they choose to list attendance records for women's basketball. i didn't notice the W in parentheses and wrongly concluded it was for the men's program. Sorry.

On the one hand, I don't know why I keep being surprised that they can keep coming up with something even more obviously stupid than the last thing. On the other hand, they just keep making the really important things worse, so maybe it's better that they occupy themselves with relatively innocuous crap.

"A bill that would require the University of Kansas and Kansas State University to schedule athletic contests with Wichita State University in major sports was introduced in the state legislature today by Rep. Eugene Anderson, D-Wichita, and Loyd Andrews, D-Wichita. Kansas State had been scheduling basketball games with Wichita State and had scheduled football games with them in upcoming seasons. However, KU had published complete schedules through 1980 without Wichita State appearing on any of them."
Lawrence Journal-World, Jan. 23, 1973.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/jan...

So, certainly not the first time they'd tried to do this sort of thing in the state legislature.

This idea has gone up the flag pole several times in the past few decades. The Wichita legislators involved get lots of free publicity. Newspaper reporters write lots of stories. Everyone has angst and opinions. The idea goes nowhere. A win-win-win situation.

I'm against this silly "law" but at one time under one of our recent coaches (Larry Brown or Roy Williams) there was a policy to play at least one game a year against another Kansas in-state team. It worked fairly well but that policy was discontinued. As far as I'm concerned it's up to the coach and Athletic Director to schedule games but it's still not a bad idea. "sill" to "silly"

As per my understanding, the NCAA changed their rules on playing non-Div I schools. Because of this rule change, KU's only option to continue playing these instate schools was to move them to the exhibition games rather than being in the regular season. If you look at this year's schedule, you will see that KU played Emporia State and Washburn in exhibition games.

Why doesn't O'Donnell just introduce a bill saying KU Athletics must cut a very large check to WSU Athletics every other year? Or perhaps someone could introduce a bill saying that O'Donnell should be sent to prison for criminal waste of taxpayer time and money?

Apparently, there is nothing in this state that the majority in the legislature thinks they shouldn't be able to control. Kansas isn't a nany-state, it's a "mommy Dearest" state.

House Speaker Merrick said that the Chief Justice couldn't give his traditional state-of-the-Judiciary speak to the legislature because there wasn't enough time because of all the work that had to be done. Like dictating university basketball schedules. As it is, the legislators don't put in any where near a 40-hour week any way.

Since the days of James Naismith and then Forrest Allen (inotherwords, since the game was invented), Kansas University has managed its basketball program pretty darn well. It doesn't need any assistance from the hayseeds that currently dominate the Kansas statehouse nor anyone else. Go away.

I still have such a foul taste in my mouth from the last time WSU got lucky and beat us, aka "The battle of New Orleans".I was a semi-WSU fan until that game. My blood boils every time I think of those damned billboards the small minded fools in Wichita erected . They still blow and crow about that game and its been almost 30 years ago. I hope KU never stoops to play them and if our idiot politicians have nothing better to do than push an idea like that they should be ashamed of themselves. However, if you look at the record of the clown that introduced this "bill" you'll see he's one of the GOP's brightest lunatics. WSU is not anywhere close to being in a league with the Jayhawks and their fans rank right along side Mizzou's for a total lack of class.